Irish public trust major news brands, but trend in news avoidance has emerged, Coimisiún na Meán report shows
The Report, published by Coimisiún na Meán, shows that 42% of Irish people say they can trust most news most of the time, down from 51% last year. Trust in news is lowest (33%) among the 18–24 year-old age demographic, and highest (52%) among those 65+. Trust in news in Ireland remains relatively high compared to the UK at 31%, the US at 26% and the European average at 36%.
Despite this decline in trust in news, Irish people continue to trust major news brands. RTÉ News and local radio news emerge as the most trusted brands, with 71% of those surveyed saying these are trustworthy sources of news. They are followed closely by local newspapers (69%), the Irish Times (69%) and the Irish Independent (68%).
An increase in news avoidance has emerged as another key trend in this year’s Irish Report and is at its highest ever recorded rate in this survey. When asked if you find yourself actively trying to avoid news, almost half (47%) of those surveyed said that they did. This is up from 41% last year.
Rónán Ó Domhnaill, Media Development Commissioner at Coimisiún na Meán said: “Each year, the Digital News Report Ireland gives us an opportunity to pause and reflect on Ireland’s media landscape, and to better understand from the Irish public how they read, watch, listen, stream and engage with news."
“This year’s Report offers a fascinating insight into the dynamics at play in a complex, fragmented news ecosystem. While Irish audiences remain interested in news, there has been a significant decline in their trust in news generally, while trust in major news brands has remained steady. We are encouraged by the positive views that Irish people express towards public service media, with some 42% saying it has a positive impact on life in the country. This is twelve percentage points higher than in the UK (30%), and six percentage points above the European average (36%)."
“The ambition of Coimisiún na Meán is to develop and maintain a media landscape that consumers can trust. We do not take the Irish public’s continued interest in news for granted, and the findings underline the need for ongoing attention to the sustainability of the media sector, media literacy, and the evolving role of platforms and technologies in shaping the news media environment. For our part, An Coimisiún will continue to support Ireland’s media landscape through investing in high-quality news reporting through our Journalism Schemes and with our support for media literacy initiatives.’’
Research for the Digital News Report is undertaken by the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism at the University of Oxford and analysis of the Irish data is provided by the DCU Institute for Future Media, Democracy and Society (FuJo).
Key findings from this year's Report can be found here.
